ALEX Salmond claims Theresa May's hard Brexit approach risks "undermining the entire basis of Scottish devolution" by riding roughshod over the wishes of Holyrood and the electorate.
He said the Tory Government seemed intent on “systematically destroying” its own claims that Scotland is an equal partner in the UK with its plans to leave the single market.
May's hard Brexit was an "arrogant dismissal" of the Scottish Parliament's support for remaining in the area that allows for free movement of goods, he said.
The former First Minister, now MP for Gordon, maintained that the Tories has decided "Scotland’s voice does not matter" after May ruled out a separate Brexit deal for Scotland.
Salmond warned that the PM's announcement risked ripping up the devolution settlement of the late 1990s, by failing to consult the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Tories at Westminster were preventing Holyrood from protecting Scots from "damaging decisions" such as exiting the single market, the MP said.
“The clock is ticking, and time is running out, for the Conservatives to demonstrate for real that Scotland is what they claim it to be – an equal partner in the United Kingdom.
“The Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999 in large part to stop Westminster governments imposing damaging decisions on Scotland against the will of the people who live here. It was set up to ensure the democratic views of the people were not overridden and that we could get on with the job of building a better county and stronger economy," he said.
“But the actions of the Tory Government since the Brexit vote show the real limits the devolved Parliament faces in protecting Scotland from damaging Westminster decisions. And they have demolished their own boast that Scotland is an equal partner in the UK."
Salmond, the SNP's foreign affairs spokesperson, said the Tories failure to consult Holyrood meant the parliament would have no say about the profound changes a hard Brexit would mean.
He said: “The arrogant dismissal by the Tories to the Scottish Parliament’s repeated support for staying in the single market, shows they are more than willing to exercise that power and over-ride democratic votes in Holyrood.
"Such a course of action would clearly have a huge and damaging impact on Scotland and profoundly change the nature of our country.
"But this announcement was made with no reference to, or concern, for Scotland or the Scottish Parliament.”
Salmond claimed a hard Brexit-dominated Tory party at Westminster was also "ripping to shreds" the promises made to Scots about more powers in the run up to the 2014 independence referendum.
He said “The Brexiteer hard right-wing of the Tory Party is now in the driving seat at Westminster. They are undermining the very principles that lay behind devolution and are making it clear that, when push comes to shove, they will decide and that Scotland’s voice does not matter.
“Last week the Scottish Parliament clearly endorsed, by a large margin and on a cross-party basis, the Scottish Government’s attempt to keep Scotland in the European single market. The UK Government, and the Prime Minister herself, have given a commitment to explore that objective.
“But time is running out for the Tory Government to demonstrate that they are in any way serious about Scotland being an equal partner in the UK.
“As things stand they are systematically destroying their own notion of the Union as a proper partnership as well as ripping to shreds the promises made to the people of Scotland about the status and powers of the Scottish Parliament during and after the 2014 independence referendum.
"It will be for the Scottish Parliament and people to respond to this new reality of hard Tory Brexit."
A UK Government spokesperson, hitting back, said: “The UK voted to leave the EU and all parties should respect the result of the referendum. As we prepare to start negotiations with the EU we are working closely with the devolved administrations. We are determined to get the best deal for Scotland and all parts for all of the UK as we leave the EU.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel